Gloria Wright/The Post-StandardA young deer munches on grass at Green Lakes State Park

Last week while I was out of town visiting my father in Elkview, W.Va., I missed a public hearing in Fayetteville about the draft master plan at Green Lakes State Park.

Several people expressed concern at the meeting that the park’s plan doesn’t address specific methods of managing the park’s growing deer population, according to a story by staff writer Elizabeth Doran.

Among the key, deer-related discussion points were the high number of deer/motor vehicle accidents around the park, the fact that the park has been identified as ground zero in Central New York for the deer-carried Lyme disease tick, and the fact that many surrounding homeowners are tired of having their shrubs and flowers munched on by deer.

A wildlife survey of the park was proposed several years ago by the town of Manlius, in conjunction with SUNY ESF officials. It never happened. However, David Riehlman, a senior wildlife biologist with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, told me last year “something” should be done to manage the park’s deer.

While visiting my father, I picked up a copy of the Charleston Daily Mail newspaper and saw the headline, “Urban deer hunt starts Saturday.” That’s right, bowhunters are allowed to hunt on 16 pieces of property within the city limits.

This year, the special city-issued hunting permit costs $5 for a season that runs through the end of the year. The bag limit is seven deer, and those deer are not counted against the hunter’s regular bow-season tag, which allows three deer per season. Charleston city manager David Molgaard stressed that the city’s program is less about providing sport for hunters and “more about reducing the number of deer in city limits.”

Paul Johansen, assistant chief in charge of game management for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, told me that nine cities (including some parks within them) in the state have special urban deer hunting seasons.

“What prompted it is the recognition that hunting is the most effective way to control deer populations. And that’s anywhere, whether it’s a city or a wilderness area,” he said. He added there’s other tools and tactics out there, such as fencing, chemical repellents, contraception and trap-and-relocate practices, but “they’re just not practical or cost-effective.”

Johansen emphasized that urban hunts are much more tightly controlled than regular bowhunting. The state has offered general regulations, but the cities are allowed to pile on their own rules, include specifying what areas can be hunted, how they can be hunted (such as requiring hunting from treestands only) — and in some cases, a “proficiency test” for archers.

“Since we’ve started this more than a decade ago, we’ve had zero hunting-related accidents,” he said.